Forevermore and Nevermore
by KittyCatMewMew101
Summary: Ebony, a young cat who works under the mysterious rogue known as Boss, is sent to spy on the newly arrived StrongClan. There he will find a happiness he never expected to know... only problem is that Boss wants nothing more for this Clan to be vanquished, and he'll do anything to get his way.
1. Prologue

A vast world of sand and blistering heat. Shadows dance across the rippling dunes and overhead circles a lone vulture. Relentlessly it cries out it's hungry unsatisfied caws. It swoops and then rises, swoops and then raises. Its beady black eyes gleaming with impatience. For far down below, is a small black figure laying still under the relentless rays of sunlight. The stunning blue of eyes of this creature are glazed over and its body skinny from lack of nourishment. For days on end this lone cat had traveled, even with wounds covering his body and exhaustion filling each step.

But finally, it seems he has reached the end. He was beaten, broken, all life gone. Yet he continues to live, much to the vultures annoyance. This cat, even with everything taken from him, continues to fight for his life. Slowly he blinks his glazed eyes and stirs slightly, causing the small grains of sand mixed into his pelt to fall back to the ground. It was then that the dying cat manages a small, sad grin. How did all of this happen? Even though that eventful day only occurred a few days ago, it felt like seasons had passed. Like everything was a distant and far away memory.

The tom cat was almost amused, in a sick twisted way, at how fast something could be lost. A happiness that should have lasted forevermore, was now nevermore…


	2. Chapter 1

He paced silently among the long grass, the only sign of his annoyance was the subtle twitch of his fluffy silver tail. Where was he? They had agreed to meet upon the arrival of sun high, and it was clearly pass that now. With an exasperated sigh, the muscular silver tabby whose pelt was riddled with scars promptly sat down. It wasn't like him to be late. Did something happen to him? Surely not. Ebony was his finest. Trained personally by himself, there was no way the little black cat could disappoint him like that.

"Boss, I apologize for being late," his ears perked at the soft emotionless voice behind him. It was about time. Turning to face his subordinate, he glared down at the much smaller cat.

"So what news do you bring?" his whiskers twitched as he stared back into those unreadable eyes. When was the last time he had seen emotion in those eyes? Too far back for him to remember… For a brief moment he allowed his mind to wander. What would have happened if he had never dragged Ebony into this? If he had left the innocent kit alone? Would he never have turned into the monster standing before him today? Mentally shrugging these thoughts back into the depth of his mind, Boss refocused on his loyal follower's words.

"... claimed the west. It is unknown how many of them there are. But what is known is that they wish to keep this land as their own. Shall I deal with them like the rest?" again those cold blue eyes met with Boss' golden-orange ones, patiently awaiting his orders.

With a heavy sigh, Boss answered. "Yes."

Respectfully nodding at the heavily scarred tabby, the black tom turned and slipped away. His small, slim body disappearing amongst the tall grass.

Soon enough he arrived to the stretch of land bearing the markings of the intruders. He studied the invisible border before casually crossing over. He still could not understand. Why would they live here of all places? Did they not know how powerful Boss was? Well no matter. There is no reason to understand their folly. After all, his duty is not to understand. It is to ensure that Boss will continue to rule the Savannah, no matter what must be done. Even if they are far stronger than himself, he will fight. Even if it means his own death, he will never let down the silver tabby that took him in.

The breeze tore across the dry patch of land and among the soft rustling of tall grass, the small black rogue could make out soft whispers. It seems that he has been found already. He closed his eyes, imagining the façade he would wear in order to earn their trust. Should he play the weary traveler looking for a place to live? Or should he be the hapless stranger incapable of surviving in these wilds. His ears flicked, the decision would have to be made after further examination of these intruders.

The grass rustled and Ebony casually focused his gaze on the spot. He could see movement in the shadows of the dry grass, and occasionally he was able to spot a pair of stunning green eyes. "Who are you?" a clear voice rose above the whispers, and its owner slowly stepped forward. The lanky she-cat studied him wearily, her golden tabby fur slightly bristled and her gleaming eyes narrowed. "Why are you trespassing on StrongClan territory?"

"StrongClan?" he titled his head slightly, trying to act inquisitive. Like he had no idea about them, even though he had been the last few days studying their borders.

"Yes that's right," the golden she-cat's gaze quickly switched from weary to slightly annoyed. After all, only a dense idiot wouldn't have been able to grasp the concept of the freshly marked borders. "And I want to know why you are here."

"Well… I guess, I wish to join."

"Here we are," the she-cat whose golden pelt seemed to glow under the bright, glaring sunlight stepped aside to reveal a small clearing located between two ridges. With the two high walls surrounding the clearing, a good amount of shade protected them from the blistering heat. How appropriate, for them to chose such a place. Staring down into the clearing below, the current cats were briefly replaced with those from a memory that refused to remain buried. Yes, what a fitting place indeed… "Grouncrack will show you around while I'll go and inform our leader that you wish to join."

"Sunleaf, you can't possibly be thinking of accepting this rogue into the Clan! Not only is he a complete outsider but he looks so… puny and weak," shouldering the tall grass aside, a large tom cat came strutting out of the grass with his head and tail raised high like he owned the entire Savannah. The muscular brown tabby frowned down on Ebony, his blue-green eyes gleaming with obvious disapproval as he scanned the newest recruit.

"Grouncrack, we're not in a position to be picky! Our Clan is in dire need of warriors and we should accept any help that comes out way," Sunleaf scolded while flicking her tail. This comment caught Ebony's attention. Something must have happened to result in them becoming weaker than they're used to. This is indeed a good opportunity.

"Humph, whatever you say," the tom's harsh glare seemed to soften when he turned his gaze towards the pretty she-cat before him. But he still wasn't pleased as he practically shoved Ebony aside to continue towards the edge of the gorge in order to proceed down a well trodden but rather narrow path. "Come on… kit, let's show you around them camp."

If all of the strong cats in this group are like this Neanderthal, then I'll have no problem dealing with them. And surely the best way to earn their trust, or at the very least get them to view him as less of a threat, was to play the hapless type. Satisfied with his deductions, Ebony casually made his way down. Reaching the bottom, he was greeted by an impatient Groundcrack. "Took you long enough," he huffed, his tail lashing wildly in annoyance. "This is StrongClan's camp…"

"Now I'll just give you a quick tour, and **_if_** you get accepted into the Clan than I'm sure your mentor will give you a better one," he looked down at the small outsider, not even trying to disguise the disgust on his face. "Now then, this is the warrior's den. That's the medicine cat's den. Over there is the apprentice's den. Next to it is the elder's den and the leader's den is over there," he spoke quickly and vaguely waved his tail each time he brought up a new den. "And that's the end of the tour."

"Why thanks for the ever so helpful tour," the small black rogue rolled his eyes, trying to add sarcasm to his usually emotionless voice. It had been moons since his last mission. His acting felt rusty. At the same time, he silently observed the camp. It was easy to tell which den was which, each one had different scents. He could tell that the den located in a crevice in the gorge wall was the medicine cat's den due to the smell of herbs and illness. Located among a patch of tall grass that grew a little ways away from the rest of the dens was clearly the elder's den as the scent of the old came from it. Which would mean that the apprentice's den was most likely the among the small outcrop of rocks. The tightly woven clump of twigs and grass that rested against one of the gorge walls was the nursery, due to the scent of milk and kits. The warriors den seemed to be in a cave a little ways up the gorge. And the leader's den would be… he looked towards the lone tree that grew in this part of the gorge. Nestled among the branches of the tree was a nest, most likely an abandoned bird's nest, that would be the perfect size for an adult cat.

Standing underneath the tree was Sunleaf, her golden pelt standing out among the shadows cast by the towering plant. She seemed to be saying something and then a silver head rose above the edges of the nest. The Clan leader… The one that he eventually will kill.


	3. Chapter 2

"Good day, you must be our new recruit," leaping agilely down from his perch, the silver tabby leader approached. Stepping lightly, he approached the unknown black cat. His one good golden-green eye shown with a strength that many cats lacked and an air of confidence flowed around him. "I am Burntstar, leader of StrongClan," the name was fitting. He was covered in burn scars. His left eye gone, an empty socket healing from a horrible fate, his neck now primarily scar tissue with hardly any fur to speak of and his right front leg was heavily damaged and he kept little weight on it.

"What happened for you to get all those scars?" the young recruit tilted his head, innocent eyes wide with curiosity. Well obviously there was a fire. Was it thanks to this fire that these outsiders had to settle into Boss' territory? Or maybe the fire was an isolated event. Was he the only one affected? No surely not. No group of cats would accept a weakened leader unless they themselves had been weakened as well. Well no matter, as long as he could still complete the mission he could care less.

"Silence kit!" without hesitation, the burly brown tabby lashed out. His paw loudly smacked against the side of the younger looking cat's head, sending him tumbling to the ground. "How dare you ask such a disrespectful question to our leader!"  
"Sorry, it just kind of slipped out," he looked up guiltily into the muscle head's furious cyan gaze.

"Groundcrack enough, I find no offense to the question," the leader's calm gaze focused on the bristling warrior, instantly vanquishing the burning fire in Groundcrack's eyes and making him flatten his fur. "Our Clan recently survived a fire, many perished in the flames and even those who survived didn't get away unscathed. So it's still a very… delicate subject."

"I understand, I'll try to be more considerate next time," good, this'll make everything so much easier. They're desperate to take him in, and even the strongest warriors in this Clan must have been weakened. This task will be far easier than previously thought.

"Good," the leader nodded curtly, beginning to make his way to a large rock near one of the ridge's walls. "Follow me, it's about time we announce your arrival to the Clan."

Despite his injured leg, Burntstar nimbly climbed to the top of the rock and then gestured for the new recruit to join him. Slowly clambering up, the little black cat arrived to the top to stand beside the silver tabby. Cats began to slowly creep closer to the rock, their eyes focused purely on their leader.

What diversity. There were all sorts of cats. Small and huge; old and young. From dark brown fur to silvery-blue fur. Many carried burn scars much like their leader, and quite a few had a haunted gleam in their eyes. Not many could go through such an event unscathed, both mentally and physically. "Everyone, I have an announcement!" the silver tabby's voice echoed against the ridge walls, attracting the attention of the stragglers who now rushed over to hear their leader's words. "Earlier today, Sunleaf and Groundcrack discovered an intruder," all gazes quickly focused on Ebony, who stood nervously beside their leader.

Disdainful whispers arose amongst the followers; apparently many shared the same views as the brown tabby thug earlier. What fools. Now they laugh but soon, they'll realize just how wrong they were as their Clan falls into ruins.

"We don't want a pipsqueak like him in our Clan!" a ginger tabby sneered, and many sitting around her nodded in agreement. "He's just some pathetic stray hoping to find a group idiotic enough to take him in and shelter him. He won't be able to hold his weight at all!"

"Yeah, we want true warriors! Not some half-starved kit," another cat, a slightly sandier ginger tom, joined in. The two were most likely siblings, as they shared the same build and their eyes were both a deep green that gleamed with contempt.

"Are we in the position to be picky?" a simple question brought silence amongst the crowd. StrongClan had fallen into miserable times since the fire. Many of the best warriors perished in the flames, those that lived on were now struggling to adapt to the new land they were forced to flee to. "This young cat has lived in this place since birth; most likely he will bring us the aid we need in our time of need."

"Exactly," the golden she-cat from earlier stood up, her stare landing squarely on the two ginger cats from earlier. They squirmed under her intense eyes before looking away. "He can teach us everything we'll need to know. Where to hunt. When to hunt. Which animals to avoid. Without this valuable knowledge, how many more cats will parish as we struggle to learn how to survive?"

Silence followed their words and the many warriors bowed their heads in acceptance. "Good," Burntstar nodded his approval before looking towards Ebony. "Since no one else refuses, this young cat shall become a member of our Clan. His name from now on shall be Shadowpaw and he will spend the next six moons under the training of Groundcrack."


	4. Chapter 3

"Why do I have to mentor that thing?" upon the meeting's end, Groundcrack stormed over to his leader and snarled. He sent a disdainful glare towards the younger looking cat, making it blatantly obvious that he was not pleased. "Make someone else do it! I have better usage of my time than mentoring a useless outsider!"

"Groundcrack I've put my faith in your capability of training up this young cat," while the leader spoke lightly, his eyes suddenly turned dark and commanding. He was not about to stand idly by while his subordinate questioned his decisions. "But if you want to take that faith and blatantly through it away, than fine. We have plenty of other warriors capable of training Shadowpaw."

He too would have preferred someone else to be his teacher. Having someone who actually believed in his capabilities would make it far easier to trick the Clan into trusting him. But now he was stuck with this loud brute… It would be extremely difficult to gain his trust while also keeping his current persona going.

"Shadowpaw! Shadowpaw! Hey Shadowpaw!" the little black cat recoiled, eyes widening as he turned his focus on his new mentor. He would have to get used to being called by this new name.

"Say, why did you change my name when I joined?" the other groups he had infiltrated never bothered doing such a thing. So why did this group known as a 'Clan' deem it necessary to give him such a strange name?

"This is why I didn't want to train an outsider. They don't even know something a kit does," scowling down at his new charge, Groundcrack for a moment wished he hadn't bowed to his leader's wishes. If he had continued to fight, than someone else would be stuck with this pitiful excuse of a cat. "Since long ago, this has been one of many strong Clan's traditions. A warrior's name reflects not only their appearance but also their personality. Let's use your name for an example. If you had been born into the Clan your parents would have given you the name Shadowkit due to the fact that you have black fur and that you are younger than six moons, so thus you are a kit. Upon turning six moons you would then be called Shadowpaw, like you are now. This shows that you are following in the paw steps of the warriors, your teachers. Upon proving that you have learned all that your mentor can teach you, you are then given your warrior name. You would still have the prefix of Shadow, but your suffix will depend on many things. Such as your personality. Your strengths. Your weaknesses. Or just your looks."

"I see…" what a strange custom. Would it not be easier for them to just stick with the same old name instead of changing it every so often. "What about Burntstar? Did his parents give him the name Burntkit? Isn't that a bit of a strange name?"

"No he changed his name," ignoring the inquisitive gleam in his apprentices eyes, Groundcrack turned away. Obviously he didn't feel like explaining the reason. Well it is pretty obvious. Most likely after the fire, his name changed. But why would he point out his weakness like that? Would it not have been better to have just kept his name the same? "Now come on, enough talking. Today I'm going to give you a tour of the territory."

The little black cat casually smiled, a gleam of excitement in his dark blue eyes. How amusing, he lived here far longer than these intruders. Obviously he would know everything about this land yet the brown tabby still tries to act more knowledgeable.

"Hurry up, I want to finish showing you around before sunset," hurrying ahead, the brown tabby turned to snap at his apprentice.

"Coming," picking up his pace, the small cat struggled to keep up with the hurried strides of his much bigger mentor. They walked in silence for a long distance, until finally they came to a halt before a giant red colored rock. It's texture was rough and it towered high into the sky, emitting a nice patch of shade that many warriors currently slept in.

"This is Shade Rock," the brown tabby explained, his eyes longingly staring at the cool shadows. With his thick, dark fur he found the blistering heat to be extremely uncomfortable. Stealing a glance at his relaxed apprentice, he couldn't help but wonder how that pathetic ball of fur could stand this heat. "During our free time, warriors will often come to relax in the shadows and escape the midday heat."

"I see, that'll be really helpful to know," Shadowpaw cheerfully smiled, while frowning on the inside. Near the base of the rock, hidden among the tall grass, there is an entrance to a network of tunnels that would make traveling along the territory easier and safer. Guess they do not know about that. Should he tell them? Glancing towards the arrogant mentor, Ebony lightly shook his head. No, it would be best to keep the secrets of the Savannah hidden from those who stole this land from its rightful owner.

"Too bad you'll be too busy with apprentice duties to ever get to relax," glaring down at the apprentice, Groundcrack made it blatantly obvious that he was going to make Clan life as miserable as possible for this puny rogue. "Now come on, there's still plenty to show you."

Continuing the tour, they spent a good half of the day walking between land marks that were given pointless names. Why did they bother naming such things? Does it really matter if an inanimate object has a name? "Shadowpaw, stop!" his mentor suddenly let out a low growl, crouching low to the ground to try to blend with the tall grass in order to get out of sight. Doing the same, the small apprentice slowly crept up alongside his mentor to get a better look of what startled the usually confident tom cat.

There was a hunting patrol consisting of five cats, he recognized the ginger she-cat from before and Sunleaf was amongst the group as well. The small patrol had currently scattered, the main reason being a large gray snake slithering through the grass. Its beady black eyes focused solely on Sunleaf. "What is that thing?" Groundcrack growled, his claws unsheathed and digging deep into the ground. "I've never seen a snake like that one."

"It's a black mamba. It probably tried to ambush the patrol from that tree over there," they must have good reflexes, to avoid the first strike of this deadly snake. Too bad it looks determined to catch one of them. "It's bite is extremely venomous and will kill in a matter of minutes."

Groundcrack's eyes widened at the explanation, his gaze staring worriedly at Sunleaf. It clearly wanted her as its next meal. "Stay put Shadowpaw, I'm going to help Sunleaf."

"Okay," he nodded and watched his mentor slip away, he would rather observe than interfere. He wanted to see how quickly these strangers could adapt to changes. His knowledge of these strange cats is far too lacking. It would take far more than the usual method to take them down.

By now the large snake had cornered Sunleaf, it's eyes never leaving her for a moment. But the she-cat, strangely enough, didn't fight. There was a look in her eyes, something hidden in the fear. Some emotion that Ebony had never seen before. It unsettled him. For moons he had killed, but not once had he seen anything other than desperate fear in the eyes of his victims. So why, when facing death itself in the form of this venomous snake, did her eyes seem to almost welcome death?

It lunged for her, fangs outstretched and ready to sink into her soft skin. But Groundcrack was faster. He leapt out of the grass, latching on the snake and mercilessly ripping it open. Grabbing Sunleaf by the scruff, he dragged her away as the snake writhed on the ground. It wanted to survive, it fought to survive. So why did she so willingly accept her fate?

Staring thoughtfully at the golden she-cat, a slight frown formed on Ebony's face. Did something happen to her in the past? Was it because of that strange emotion that had appeared in her eyes earlier? Were emotions that strong? "Shadowpaw, we're returning to camp. We can continue the tour later," the muscular tabby sent out nervous look towards Sunleaf, clearly concerned that she could break down at any moment. He must have seen that emotion as well. And he knew what it meant.


End file.
